


Magnetism

by maiririri



Category: Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: Angst, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-02 12:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8668063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maiririri/pseuds/maiririri
Summary: Rock can't handle the pressure of saving the world and picks up a new past-time to distract himself.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to Eel for helping me ruin Mega Man with this AU; I actually wanted to post the whole thing at once but when school started I didn't get the chance to finish so chapters will be uploaded over time!! I wrote this on impulse because i've never written a story before and have a story class so this is the first thing I've literally ever done; in accordance to that, I will apologize in advance for any wonky writing haha.  
> Also: I've only played 6 Classic games so i've pulled some characters personalities and messed around with events based on the comics, OVAs, and ruby spears cartoon too, so sorry for any inaccuracies too I'm Trying My Best T_T

“What would the people say if they saw you like this?”

“…It doesn’t matter…”

“Yeah? It doesn’t? How about this, huh— What would  _ Roll _ say if she saw you like this?”

“…!”

 

* * *

 

“Alright Rock, you’re all geared up and ready to go! Make me proud up there, son.” The blue bomber was given a hard pat on the back by the Doctor after fumbling with his necktie for a solid five minutes. Taking a deep breath, Rock looked over his shoulder towards the stage that the mayor was currently giving his own heartfelt speech on. Five days ago marked the end of the third robot war, and yet the robotic hero was still never given a day's rest. Repairs, repairing others, repairing the city…and preparing a speech to give to the entire city. He didn’t fare well with so much attention on him, because while he was an ageless robot he was still just a kid.

He let out the breath he was holding. “Okay, Dad. I’ll try my best…” He looked up into the Doctor’s proud eyes and forced out a smile. Emphasis on forced.

In all honesty, dealing with the third war had taken a toll on the small robot, and the festivities weren’t doing much to pick him back up. Rock held so many mixed emotions of destroying those just like him, robots that could have lived alongside mankind peacefully. Surely it wasn’t their fault Dr.Wily had programmed them to be so malicious — all he wanted to do was take their hands and bring them back to Dr. Light, where they could be reprogrammed. Where they could become friends.

Life wasn’t so forgiving though. Desperate charged shot after shot during battles left the Wilybots in unrepairable states; their limbs torn and tossed aside from their bodies, decapitated heads dripping oil and hanging on only by wires… sometimes he witnessed their cores blowing up, and he could only imagine their IC Chips probably being destroyed in the process.

Instances like that only made him want to sit and cry for hours. He was practically… a murderer. Mega Man the Murderer. He could laugh at himself as that title rang in his head endlessly. No matter how many times he heard a kid on the street call him a hero, he sure didn’t feel like one.

“—And now for the main guest I know you all have been actually waiting to hear from…Mega Man himself!” Rock turned quickly at the mention of his hero alias, his breath hitching in his throat once again. The clapping and loud cheers that followed shortly afterwards hit his audio receptors hard. He could only stare at the mayor motioning towards him to come on stage, frozen in place. His feet refused to move, almost as if they were super glued in place, and suddenly he felt… he felt…

_ He felt like Mega Man the Murderer. _

“Rock!” The energetic voice of a girl snapped him back to reality. He slowly turned his head to look into the beaming face of robotic sister, Roll. Her long blonde ponytail swayed to her side, the color matching her whole look of sunshine and smiles; clearly combating Rock’s darker appearance and less-happy mood.

“Hey, you’ll do great! Just take a few deep breaths, ok? Even though you don’t really need to do it but… I dunno. I heard it helps humans,” She rubbed the back of her neck and giggled. Rock couldn’t help but crack a smile at his sister’s attempt to make him feel better. Leave it to Roll to always find a way to cheer him up, intentional or not. “Anyway, even if you mess up everyone out there  _ loves _ you, y’know? So just go out there and kill it!”

The brunette bot hesitated, briefly looking at the ground. “…Right. I got it. Thanks, Roll!” He nodded at her before inhaling and turning once more to take his first step onto the stage. Through his peripheral vision he could see Dr. Light waving, looking more like an accomplished father than a doctor at the moment, with a hyperactive Rush.

He played Roll’s words over in his head, trying to make them louder than the sound of his whirring fans.

_ Just go out there and kill it. _

He took a step forward.

_ Kill it. _

Another step.

_ Kill…it…? _

Another.

_ Kill— _

The mayor moved out of his way as he made his way to center stage and brought a shaky hand to the podium. Rock reached to adjust the microphone lower and stared wide eyed into the crowd of citizens. 

He froze as every face in the audience became a robot master he destroyed in the wars.

 

An ear-splitting screech rang across the stage when the microphone shattered in his hand.

 

* * *

 

“I-I’m so sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…!” Backstage the blue bomber sat in a corner with his face in his hands, rocking slightly. Rush whimpered and paced in front of him, occasionally prodding his leg with a cushioned nose. In the background the mayor could be heard yelling over a riled crowd, screaming something about fixing technical difficulties. “I-I ruined… I ruined e-everything… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Roll stood next to him with a worried expression on her face, her eyes occasionally flicking between the crowd off to her side and her cowering brother on the ground. She played with the hem of her red dress, almost unsure of what to say to him. “R…Rock, it’s okay. These things happen! No one is blaming you for anything.”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

The blonde robot had never seen her brother in such a… vulnerable state. If she was being honest, it was kind of throwing her off— why would he be in such a position just from accidentally breaking the microphone? She tilted her head to look back down at him. “Hey… stop apologizing… you didn’t ruin everything…”

What she didn’t know was that Rock wasn’t apologizing just for breaking the microphone, or kicking over the podium, or running off the stage as Dr. Light chased after him while shouting his name. Suddenly all his pent up anxiety and guilt for obliterating robots like himself came spilling out and he found himself struggling to choke back tears. His voice became quieter and now all Roll could hear were near silent sobs and sniffles.

“Rock…?”

“…”

“…Why don’t we go back home? To the lab? We don’t have to stay here. We can tell Dr.Light you’re not running at top condition… something like that…”

He shifted an arm to look at her with one eye. “…Y-yeah… Yeah. Th-that would be… nice…”

“Okay. I’ll go then. You can stay here, with Rush. I’ll be back.”

“O-okay… Thanks, Roll…”

As she walked off towards the other side of the stage, Rush took her spot next to the robot boy. He curled up and lied next to Rock, looking at him with a worried expression. Rock didn’t bother looking up until he smelled something… burning…?

Off to the side there was a man with a headset, probably a staff member of the event, smoking behind a control board. Rock didn’t know what it could be but all he could find himself doing was staring. The way the white and gray swirled around in the air, making different shapes… it was almost mesmerizing. It seemed calmer than the smoke he’d seen rising out of Wily’s castle, rising out of the dead bodies of—

“Hey! Rock!”

“Dad said it’s okay. They’ll either postpone the event or just cancel it. Heh, you should have seen the mayor's face when he realized it meant he couldn’t use you to win him votes!” She laughed before coughing and scrunching up her nose. “Ugh, what’s that smell?” The blonde robot looked past Rock towards the control board in the behind him. “Oh…”

He follow his sister’s line of sight before glancing back to her. “…You okay, Roll? Is it bothering you?”

She waved her hand in response. “Yeah, no, I’m fine…” Her eyes flicked back towards the trail of white smoke dissolving in the air. It brought back memories of the time (or multiple times) she had caught Dr.Light about to light a cigarette in the lab. When she had confronted him about it he had responded it was only to relieve some built up stress— he didn’t do it often but sometimes being a famous scientist didn’t have its perks. But later she learned (through Bomb Man) that it was totally awful for humans to inhale that stuff. Let’s just say she confiscated any cigarettes Dr.Light tried to use afterwards.

The blue bomber frowned at her. “…Are you sure? I know i’m not feeling the best right now but… I don’t need you feeling down, too.”

“It’s just— y’know, that stuffs super bad for humans?”

“Yeah…”

“It’s weird. I dunno. I saw Dad doing it before.”

He frowned deepened. “Oh. He shouldn’t.”

“Right? He said it was ’stress relief,’ escaping reality. ‘Cause he was working so much.”

Rock’s eyes widened at that. _ An escape from reality? That would be nice right now.  _ “I didn’t know he did it. You should tell him not to. It’ll make him die faster.”

“Don’t get so dark! I did tell him, by the way. And I make sure there's nothing around when I clean the house. I better not catch you doing anything either!” She winked at him and laughed.

“What, smoking? Hey, we don’t even technically breathe, so how would I—“

“Dude, I was joking! Robots can’t like, smoke or take drugs even if they wanted to.” She scrunched her nose in thought before smiling. “I bet Blues has totally tried to though. He would.”

_ Is that… true? Robots can’t do drugs? Robots can’t smoke? Robot’s can’t— _

Rock shook his head as his thoughts threatened to take him over. He couldn’t seriously be thinking about this. He couldn’t.

Could he…? He watched Roll bend down to pet Rush.

_ It makes sense though.  _ He thought back to the point he was about to make earlier.  _ We don’t even technically breathe, so how would robots even inhale that stuff? _

_ …The fans? _

_ … _

“Anyway, Rock, we should get going! You too Rushie! Let’s go back to the lab okay boy?” She patted Rush on the head one last time before standing and brushing off her simple red dress.

The thoughts continued to flood into his head.

He was just curious.

Only curious.

Robots can be curious.

_ What if there’s something…  _

_ What if there’s something…  _

_ What if there’s something…  _

_ What if there’s something… robots could take… but no one knows? _

As he stood up and tried to clear his head he wondered if Blues really had ever tried anything when he had run away from home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't have cool title names >_>;;; Thanks for reading this far :O

“Rock! I’m going to be cleaning Dad’s lab, okay? Let me know if you need something!”

“Got it, Roll!” Rock watched his sister descend into the basement, a bucket of water and mop in hand, from the top of the staircase. Once he saw the last of her hair disappear he quickly made his way down the hallway and into his own bedroom. He leaned his back against the door, closing it carefully, and took a deep breath. Looking down he decided to try taking the necktie off of his suit but called it quits when he only ended up knotting it tighter in some flower-like shape.  _ I’ll just ask Roll to take it off later.  _ Rock let out a dejected sigh. He didn’t even know what he was planning to do, truly. Somehow the blue bomber felt afraid that Roll was hearing every thought crossing his mind since it felt like they were just becoming louder and louder, so he was now relieved to be left alone in his room. But it’s not like those thoughts had reached an end. Rock’s eyes wandered around the room for any sort of distraction, before falling onto the laptop on his desk.

_ …That’s good. I’ll play a game or something. _

Finally detaching himself from the door he made his way to the desk on the far left of the room, stepping over a couple dog toys in the process. Before pulling out the rolling chair, he made it a point to kick the blue helmet that lay on the ground next to the desk. Ever since the last robot war ended he hadn’t cared enough to put it in a nicer place—on one had he didn’t think it deserved a nicer place but on the other, his dad did make it with care and he should move it not only for him, but because all it does is make him think of the battles he wore it in anyway.

_ Maybe tomorrow. _

Sitting down, he flipped the laptop open. Upon startup he could see the crudely drawn picture of Rush he made in MSPaint the night before. Were those even the right colors? Rock briefly thought of deleting it but instead opted to save the drawing to email to Blues later and ask his artistic expertise if it was any good. The second window on his desktop displayed his email inbox. There was a new chat message from Cut Man.

 

**[8:06AM] ICantBelieveItsNotCutter: MR.ROCK!!!!! CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO I THINK U WILL LIKE IT GUTS THONKS ITS HILARIOUS**

**[8:06AM] ICantBelieveItsNotCutter: *THINKS**

**[8:06AM] ICantBelieveItsNotCutter: https://youtu.be/CgHW02YF50s**

**[8:07AM] ICantBelieveItsNotCutter: ALSO U SHOULD DO THIS WITH DR.LIGHT. OR MS.ROLL SHOULD. OR U AND MS.ROLL SHOULD DO IT WITHOUT DR.LIGHT**

**[8:07AM] ICantBelieveItsNotCutter: ALSO GUTS SAYS HI**

 

_ I don’t really feel like watching this now… _ Rock began typing a response back.

 

**[10:51AM] Mega_TheRock_Man: sorry, i can watch it later! i've been busy today. and hi guts man**

**[10:51AM] Mega_TheRock_Man: btw cute man your caps lock is still on it's been like a week do you need help**

**[10:51AM] Mega_TheRock_Man: *cut man that was a really embarrassing typo i'm sorry**

 

Rock opened a new tab before hearing a ring. He hadn’t noticed that Cut Man was actually online now.

 

**[10:52AM] ICantBelieveItsNotCutter: ITS OK EVERYONE THINKS IM CUTE I MAY AS WELL BE CUTE MAN AM I RIGHT**

**[10:52AM] Mega_TheRock_Man: yeah you are cute so**

**[10:52AM] ICantBelieveItsNotCutter: AND I DONT NEED HELP I TOLD U I CANT TURN IT OFF. ALL I CAN DO IS YELL OVER THE INTERNET FOREVER**

**[10:52AM] ICantBelieveItsNotCutter: WAIT WHAT**

**[10:52AM] Mega_TheRock_Man: ;-)**

**[10:53AM] ICantBelieveItsNotCutter: STOP!!! IF MY CAPS LOCK WASNT ALREADY ON THAT WOULD BE IN CAPS LOCK**

**[10:53AM] Mega_TheRock_Man: im just messing with you haha (even if it’s true)**

**[10:54AM] ICantBelieveItsNotCutter: OK WELL ANYWAY MR.ROCK I HAVE WORK TO DO I HOPE UR THINGY WAS GOOD TODAY I DIDNT GET TO SEE IT**

**[10:54AM] ICantBelieveItsNotCutter: TELL EVERYONE I SAID HI!!!! ILL COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS**

**[10:54AM] Mega_TheRock_Man: christmas is in like 5 months but ok bye! ttyl**

 

Rock watched Cut Man’s icon disappear from the sidebar before switching back tabs—but he had forgotten what he was going to do…

_ I was going to look for something. _

Google’s colorful logo stared him in the eyes.

_ A game? _

His hands hovered over the keyboard, ready to type anything into the search bar. He was still curious about earlier, if he was to admit it. The thoughts never left him. It was more like they were haunting him at this point.

_ I could find out what robots can do right now. That’ll ease my mind, probably. _

He hesitated for a few moments, not actually knowing what to type into the search bar without it sounding ridiculous.

**_can robots smoke_ **

Delete.

**_robot drugs_ **

Delete.

**_how to modify a robots cognitive processing–_ **

“Hey little bro! Whatcha up to?”

“WHAT–” Rock flinched and slammed the laptop shut before swiveling in the chair to face the source of the voice. He was met with the scene of Blues climbing through his window, brushing leaves out of his unkempt pompadour. He let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Oh my god, Blues, stop doing that. You’re gonna give someone a heart attack one day.”

“Hah! Robots don’t have hearts.” Blues snapped his fingers and sat in the window frame, adjusting his long scarf in the process. He tossed his signature red and white helmet onto the bed in a somewhat graceful looking manner, but it still rolled off the edge and hit the floor. Ignoring it, he continued,  “Although, the doc does. Maybe I’ll surprise him one day. Anyway, was I interrupting something? You closed that thing so fast I coulda sworn you’d have broke it.” He snickered and pointed at the laptop on the desk.

“ _ No _ . No. Nothing.”

“O-kay little bro. Well, I did come to ask how you were doin’, considering you obliterated that mic earlier and ran off the stage.”

“What– you were there?”

“ ‘Course I was! Gotta show my support for my favorite brother. Even if you did totally kick my ass at Wily’s.”

Rock winced at that. “S-sorry. I didn’t… I didn’t realize it was you. I didn’t know…”

Blues frowned at him. “Hey, we’re cool now. I was just testing you there anyways. Wanted to make sure you were strong enough n’ whatever.”

“...Blues, why do you care about me so much? We only met a week ago.”

“ Uh, like I said, you’re my little brother?” Blues laid back and crossed his right leg over the other. “Well, let’s just say I’ve known you existed for way longer than you’ve known I existed. And I don’t wanna see you, or Roll, tossed away like I was.” Blues moved his hands behind his head in thought. “ Y’know, the name ‘Proto Man’ kinda sucks. What if you went from ‘Mega Man’ to like… ‘Beta Man’? That’d also suck.”

The smaller robot boy looked at the ground and kicked his legs. “Um… Dad-- I mean, Dr. Light, told me he was really sad when you ran away. I don’t think he meant to make you feel bad.”

“Yeah? Well, he did. So that’s the end of it. But again, I didn’t come here to talk about me, Rock. I came here to ask about you.”

“...Right. Well, I’m… I’m fine.”

Rock eyes flicked back upwards and he could tell from behind his brothers large visor that he had raised an eyebrow. “You sure? Didn’t seem like it back there.”

“Yeah. I’ve just… been thinking a lot. Since the war ended.”

“‘Bout what?”

“Just… a lot of stuff. Maybe I need to relax.” He turned his chair back so he was facing the laptop again, and put his elbows on the desk. “Hey… Blues… What was it like when you left Da-- Dr. Light? You could... do anything out there, right?”

“Oh, I did a lot of cool stuff. And some weird stuff. Before my core blew out of course. Heh, it almost made me feel human! Maybe I’ll take you an adventure like that one day.”

“...What kind of weird stuff?”

“Interested already little bro? Well… just things humans do for fun. Go shopping even though I didn’t need anything and was dying, sit in bars and pick fights for no reason. I also tried eating something but that didn’t go well. Probably sped up my break down.”

“Haha, why did you even try that?”

“Hey, don’t tell me you don’t think food looks good! I’ve always wanted to try steak.”

Rock finally found himself cracking a smile. “Okay okay, I’ll admit that at least. But I don’t do things that would break me.”

Blues smiled and shrugged at him. “Well, I was called ‘Break Man’ for multiple reasons I guess.”

“Hey Blues?”

“What?”

“Just wondering but… did you ever tried smoking too?”

“What’s that all about?”

Rock held his breath and froze. “U-uh, I was curious. Earlier Roll said she saw Dr. Light doing it once. Humans do it for fun even if it’s bad. You said you did fun human things.” He glanced back at his older brother, trying not to make himself seem awkward. “Besides, you have the hair and glasses already. It would match your look.”

“Psh, you bet it would! Think it's cool? Don’t worry bro, your look is halfway to being as great as mine.” Blues ran a red armored hand through his hair. “But yeah I tried it once. Some guy at a pub offered me a cigar, which is like, a super-cigarette or something. It tastes super gross but besides that it doesn’t do anything to robots like it does to humans. The smoke just goes in and filters out through the fans. I’d rather eat a steak again, ‘cause then at least it tastes good.”

“Oh, I see…” Rock stared at the wall, taking in the new information. I guess smoking was never an option anyway.

“You sound disappointed.” Blues started.

Rock froze again. “N-N-No, I–”

“–But let me tell you that you wouldn’t look nearly as cool smoking as someone like me would! For real though, I don’t think you should try it. I’m sure enough of that stuff could corrode your circuits anyway.” The older robot  hopped off the windowsill into the bedroom. “Kids like you should just stick to ice cream.”

If Rock had a heart he felt as though it would have jumped out of his chest by now. There were so many moments during the conversation he thought he was going to get caught. Although… for what, exactly?

Good thing Blues is so carefree.

“H-haha, yeah I guess so.” The younger robot rubbed the back of his neck before clearing his throat. “Earlier when Roll told me she caught Dr. Light with a cigarette she said she bet you tried it too. I guess she won that bet.”

Blues feigned a shocked expression. “What! I’m so hurt you two think so badly of me. I’m supposed to the cool older bro you respect!”

Rock flashed a smile at his brother. “I still think you’re cool, don’t worry.”

“Heh, thanks.” Blues made his way over to where the blue bomber was still seated and gave him a hard pat on the shoulder. “You can let me know if you need anything, okay? We could like, actually go out for ice cream if you want. I think you need a break.”

“I’m not sure if that was some sort of joke about earlier, but thanks. Maybe if you’re buying I’ll consider taking one lick and then throwing it out.”

“Geez, you could just say no if you don’t want to! Fine then, anything else besides food.”

“Actually… I do have one thing I want to ask you now…” Rock said, glancing to the laptop next to him.

Blues cocked an eyebrow. “Lay it on me.”

The younger robot took the computer onto his lap and opened it. He clicked a few times before turning the laptop screen to face his brother.

“You said you’re good at drawing right? How does this picture of Rush look?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead I swear :')

Rock appreciated the distractions Blues provided him with during his surprise visit. Thanks to his artist of a brother, Rock was able to figure out that he was absolutely terrible at drawing once Blues sketched his own picture of Rush for comparison, and then afterwards proceeded to draw a very detailed portrait of the younger robot and his sister (which he promised he would hang up later, it was too good to just toss away). Blues had also recounted a few of his strange yet thrilling experiences during his time away from home— like the time he accidentally joined a motor biking race and ended up winning 2nd place even though he’d never driven a bike in his entire life. Perks of being a combat robot, the older guessed. But the visit was cut short once Roll made a reappearance from cleaning the basement. At that point the blue bomber had forgotten why he was even upset–before Blues, not realizing it, brought him back to his sad reality.

“Hey, before I run I figured I’d let you know I overheard the mayor trying to reschedule the whole event-speech-party-thing. Apparently they’re gonna try it again some time next week.”

Rock froze in place and tried his best not to break his smile to grimace. “Oh… great. Thanks.”

“No problem. But ya know, if you’re still not up to it just tell the doc or something, I’m sure he’d get you out of it.”

“Alrighty.”

The older robot picked his helmet up from the ground and placed it back on his head, somehow fitting his outrageous hairstyle into it. Rock stared and wondered how it was possible but couldn’t find the words to comment on it since his hair did practically the same thing.

“Well, see ya lil’ bro! Tell Rush I said ‘Hi’.”

Before the younger robot knew it, Blues had lept through his window again, only leaving a flash of his signature yellow scarf as his after-image.

Rock sighed and turned back towards his desk. “... See you.” His eyes scanned over the mess of papers sprawled across his desk. Blues had been doodling a variety of things while talking to him, though some he scribbled out. There were a few sketches of Dr. Light that were left without being crossed out but he noticed they were significantly lower quality than the ones of Dr. Wily (even if those ones had mean words written in speech bubbles).

_...Blues has his own problems too. I can’t be sitting here moping around _ . 

“...ck? ...Rock?” Roll’s voice could just barely be heard through the cracks of his bedroom door.

“Roll?” Rock jumped to his feet and quickly made his way to the door, fumbling with knob a bit before he could unlock it and step into the hallway. He called out again over the stairs railing. “Roll?”

“Rock!” The blonde robot emerged from under the stairway and looked up at him. “Rock, can you help meee?”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Dad asked if I could move this thing in lab, but it’s HUGE! I don’t wanna lift it myself… sooo…”

“Okay. Umm…” He flipped through his options in his head. Should he use an ability he collected or not…?

Not that he wanted to. 

“Rock!! Can you help me move it so I don’t accidentally kill myself??”

“Yes, I will!! How big is it?”

“Uhh I dunno! It’s like a big cylinder-thing. It’s not that huge.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in a second!”

“Yay! Thanks Rock!” She smiled and made a V-sign at him before scurrying away out of sight. He couldn’t help but smile back at her cute display, even after she was gone. He turned and walked down the stairs, his huge blue boots making a soft thudding noise with every step he took. It wasn’t long before Rock found himself facing the entrance to the basement.

“Roll? You down there?”

A loud clanking noise met his audio receptors in response, followed by a low “oops,”  and then a louder “Yes, I am!”

“‘Kay, I’m coming!” Rock took careful steps in his descent, not sure of what junk could be left lying on the stairs. Cans, bottles, nails… liquids. He remembered that one time he stepped on a large, stray screw and ended up embedding it in the bottom of his foot. Reliving that painful experience wasn’t exactly appealing to him right now.

Soon the blue bomber reached the bottom of the staircase, and saw his sister on the other side of the room. She waved him over, and he followed her gesture.

“Hey, how come you’re still wearing that suit by the way?” The blonde eyed him up and down and stifled a laugh. “And what happened to your tie?”

“I, uh… I couldn’t take it off?” Rock rubbed the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed as he remembered his difficulties earlier. “Um. Could you help me with it later. Maybe?”

“ ‘Course! But only if you help me with--” She slammed her ceratanium hand on the giant cylinder lying next to her. It caused a loud metallic thudding sound to ring out through the lab. “--This!”

Covering his ears, Rock answered. “Yep, that’s what I came down here to do after all!”

“Heheh, Okay! Grab that end of it from the bottom and lift it up. I got this side.”

Rock took a few steps back to stand at the end of the cylinder, as directed by his sister. As he bent down to take it into his hands he felt a slight tingly sensation in his hands. Moving closer, they started to cling to the object. His face frowned in confusion.

“Hey, Roll? What’s up with this thing?”

Questioning green eyes peered over the cylinder. “Huh? What?”

“It's sticking to me. Is this a giant magnet?”

“Is it? That didn’t happen on my end.”

“Oh. Well, it’s not that strong, anyway.”

Roll tapped her fingers to her chin. “Okay, well, when you lift it just try not to keep it near your chest or head! You wouldn’t want to damage yourself by accident, even if it’s weak.”

He nodded in response. “Ok, gotcha. Ready?”

“Yeah. Okay, one...two…!”   
On ‘three’ they lifted the object in unison and took a moment to balance themselves. Rock took the first step backwards, his large boot thumping against the floor of the lab. “This should be okay. I’ll go up the stairs first.”

“Ok… be careful.”

With Roll pushing forward from one end and Rock pulling from the other, he realized just how heavy the huge cylinder was. Definitely not a job for two kids, let alone one. He wondered what went through Dr. Light's mind when he asked Roll to carry it herself.

While the two slowly  made their way across the room in silence, Rock started paying more and more attention to the tingling in his hands. It felt weird and… wait, was it getting stronger? No, he was probably thinking about it too much… To get his mind off the strange sensation the blue bomber decided to speak up again. “Y’know Roll... I fought a guy made of magnets.”

“Really?” She frowned. “Was he mean?”

Rock didn’t know why he started this conversation specifically but he also didn’t know if he was regretting it. “I mean, probably. I dunno. Wily probably programmed him to be mean but... we didn’t get to talk much.”

The blue bomber briefly recalled his time battling the robot master known as Magnet Man. Fortunately, the red robot was let off a bit easier than his brothers; using spark shock against his magnetic abilities only shorted out his systems. At the time, Rock did fear that Magnet Man might blow up so he stuck around the floor longer, hearing the red’s circuits sizzle and watching the body twitch on the ground, all in fear of his IC chip getting destroyed. He felt relieved when the body calmed and fans could no longer be heard whirring madly but it didn’t take away from the fact the body was then void of any more life.

The brunette tried not to let his thoughts linger into memories of the other battles that were ten times more gruesome… especially Snake Mans. “Um, anyway I was just thinking that if I knew this thing was magnetic I could’ve used the ability I collected. Since I didn’t delete the data yet.”

Roll stifled a laugh. “What, you wanna show off how strong you are to your sis?”

“Whaaat? No, I’m just saying!”

“Rock I’ll have you know I’m pretty strong myself! Or, well--” She motioned with her head to the end of the cylinder in her arms. “Maybe not strong enough for this. But I could make a great sidekick!! Just imagine--Mega Woman! Sounds cool, right?”

The blue bomber couldn’t help but crack a smile. Roll always knew how to lighten the mood. Talking with her about practically anything always made him feel better. “Yeah, heh. It would’ve been more fun to have you along.”

“‘Course! But someone’s gotta stick around Dad.” The blonde giggled. “You can always call me if you need help, though!”

“I will-- but hopefully I won’t have to.”

“I mean for anything. Including wardrobe malfunctions.”

Rock huffed when reminded of his appearance “Hey, come on, I wasn’t built to tie ties!”

“Alriiiight.” His sister playfully rolled her eyes at him. “Now, watch your step going up the stairs, I don’t know what's lying around on there!”

“Got it.” The brunette’s boot met the bottom of the staircase with another thud. For some reason, he hesitated to start climbing. “Uh… Roll?”

“What’s up?”

“I just… Um. Thanks. For the offer.”

“Don’t worry about it. You locked yourself upstairs after getting home so I got a little worried.” She let a frown slip onto her face. “I hope you’re feeling better.”

“Yeah. A little. I heard from--” The blue bomber paused in the middle of his sentence. He almost gave away that Blues’ had visited him during the time he was in his room. And if Roll knew, then she’d tell Dr. Light, who would start questioning him-- and he wasn’t particularly in the mood for all that excitement. “--Well, no, overheard the mayor, before we left, talking about rescheduling the speech for next week. I don’t know if I’m up for trying again.”

“Oh… hey, I have an idea! Why don’t I go on stage with you? Maybe you’ll feel less nervous that way? And maybe Rush can come too!” The blonde smiled brightly at him in hopes her words could reassure her brother. He let a small smile slip onto his face, as if responding to her supportive expression.

“Actually… that might be nice.”   
“Then, it’s settled! I’ll go with you!” Roll laughed and shifted the weight in her arms. “But now, you have to go with me upstairs. This thing is kind of heavy, I don't want to stand around holding it anymore.”

“Oh, right…! Yeah, let’s go.”


End file.
